In 2019, 248 live donor transplants were performed in Israel - three and a half times that of a decade ago • A 30,000 increase in vapor card signatures
An all-time record in live donor kidney donations: In 2019, 248 kidney transplants were performed from volunteer donors, compared to 231 in 2018, 222 in 2017-2016 and almost four times the figure a decade ago - only 69 live transplants in 2009. This is according to data from the National Transplant Center at the Ministry of Health.
In total, 575 people were granted new life during 2019 following an organ transplant. For the first time in 6 years, there was a slight decrease in total transplants from 592 in 2018. However, there is an increase in readiness for organ donation: 68% of families contacted for organ donation (73 families out of 106) agreed to donate their loved ones, compared to 53% in 2018.
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Alongside live donor transplants, 315 deceased transplants were performed, including 143 kidney transplants, 76 liver transplants, 21 heart transplants, and 52 lung transplants. As of January 2020 in Israel, there are 1,153 people waiting for a transplant, and in the past year 59 people died while waiting for a transplant. The highest number of pending donations is for kidney donation (857), lung (124), liver (86) and heart (71).
The number of signatures on the vapor card for organ donation is 975,053. An increase of about 30,000 compared to the previous year, when a decade ago there were only 516,000 signed. 47 percent of transplant recipients were promoted as waiting for a transplant because they were signed to an organ donor card.
International Crossover Database
This year saw a breakthrough in the area of cross-country donations from living donors and international cooperation between two countries - the Czech Republic and Israel. 29 kidney transplants from live donors were performed by operating a national and international pool of kidney transplants between unpaired couples. Cross-implantation is possible when a person wants to donate a kidney between a family member and another, but due to the lack of a match, databases in Israel and the world are searched for a similar "duo". The donors from Israel are 15 women and 14 men. The youngest of the donors is 31 and the adult is 71. In nine cases it was a donation from wife to husband, three cases from husband to wife and three cases from child to parent. In another case from parent to child and in two cases between friends. Also, there were another 11 altruistic donors who agreed to donate to the cross and integrate into the national program. The transplant is 19 men and 10 women. The youngest is a 5 year old and the older is 72 years old.
Prof. Rafi Biar, chair of the National Transplant Center's Steering Committee: "The cross-over program extends the possibilities of finding matches between family members that have not been matched, thus promoting transplantation. The special in this program, which may also be joined by couples whose patient has not yet begun dialysis, is not possible in the list of deceased donors. "